Hong Kong Phooey is an American Saturday morning animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast on ABC. The original episodes aired from September 7 to December 21, 1974, and then in repeats until 1976.[1] The show was brought back in reruns in 1978 and 1981, and was included in the USA Network's Cartoon Express block throughout the 1980s.[2] The main character, Hong Kong Phooey, is the clownishly clumsy secret identity of Penrod "Penry" Pooch, an anthropomorphic dog working at a police station as a "mild-mannered" janitor under the glare of Sergeant Flint, nicknamed "Sarge".
| Hong Kong Phooey | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Directed by | Charles A. Nichols |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Opening theme | "Hong Kong Phooey" by Scatman Crothers |
| Ending theme | Hong Kong Phooey (Instrumental) |
| Composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (31 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producer | Iwao Takamoto (creative producer) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 7 – December 21, 1974 |
Penry disguises himself as Hong Kong Phooey by jumping into a filing cabinet – in so doing he always gets stuck, and is freed by his striped pet cat named Spot – and once disguised, gets equipped with the "Phooeymobile" vehicle that transforms itself into a boat, a plane or a telephone booth, depending on the circumstances.[3]
In fighting crime, he relies on his copy of The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu, a correspondence-course martial-arts instruction handbook.[4] However, his successes are only either thanks to Spot, who provides a solution to the challenges, or the direct result of a comically unintended side effect of his efforts. The humor of the incompetence of Hong Kong Phooey is a recurring theme of each episode. The backgrounds were designed by Lorraine Andrina and Richard Khim.
Plot
editEach episode begins with Rosemary, the somewhat ditzy telephone operator, getting a call about a crime which she explains to Sergeant Flint. Penry, the janitor, overhears the conversation and proceeds to transform himself into the crime-fighting canine (on whom Rosemary has a crush) by slipping into the hidden room behind the vending machine, then jumping into the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet, getting stuck, and, with help from Spot, coming out of the top drawer. Sometimes Spot is annoyed by Hong Kong Phooey for his bumbling but always ends up saving him.
After sliding behind an ironing board to the floor below, he bounces off an old sofa, through an open window, into a dumpster outside, and emerges driving his Phooeymobile. Even when he crashes into, harms, or otherwise inconveniences a civilian, the passer-by feels honored, as opposed to being annoyed or embarrassed, when they see who did it. One example was when he drove the Phooeymobile through wet cement, splattering the workers: they responded that it was an "honor to have a whole day's work ruined by the great Hong Kong Phooey". Despite his blatant lack of talent or intelligence, Hong Kong Phooey is feared by criminals and admired by citizens, but annoys Sergeant Flint, who sees him only as a hindrance to the police, and as evidenced in the final episode "Comedy Cowboys", Flint takes pleasure in arresting the framed hero (though he is later exonerated). Sometimes Sergeant Flint does admire Hong Kong Phooey for helping them catch the bad guys and bringing them to justice.
Voice cast
edit- Scatman Crothers as Hong Kong Phooey/Penrod "Penry" Pooch
- Kathy Gori as Rosemary
- Joe E. Ross as Sergeant Flint
- Don Messick as Spot, The Narrator, Additional Voices
Additional voices
editProduction
editOriginally the show was meant to be a vehicle for Huckleberry Hound, playing the titular Hong Kong Phooey, until it was decided to make it more original.
Hong Kong Phooey is voiced by Scatman Crothers. Sergeant Flint is voiced by Joe E. Ross, who was best known as Officer Gunther Toody in the early 1960s television series Car 54, Where Are You? As Flint, Ross revived Toody's famous "Ooh! Ooh!" exclamation, which he had also used when playing mess sergeant Rupert Ritzik in The Phil Silvers Show.
The final episode, "Comedy Cowboys", was intended as a backdoor pilot for a new series. In this two-part episode, new characters Honcho, The Mystery Maverick, and the Posse Impossible, appear and help to clear Hong Kong Phooey of a crime. These characters later appear in their own continuing segment, "Posse Impossible" on CB Bears. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show uses the limited Hanna-Barbera laugh track.
Music
editThe show's opening theme, titled "Hong Kong Phooey", was written and composed by Hoyt Curtin, William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera, and sung by Crothers. For the end credits, a shortened instrumental version of the same song was used. A cover performed by Sublime is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records.
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Car Thieves" "Zoo Story" | September 7, 1974 | |
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| 2 | "Iron Head the Robot" "Cotton Pickin' Pocket Picker" | September 14, 1974 | |
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| 3 | "Grandma Goody (Cat Burglar)" "Candle Power" | September 21, 1974 | |
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| 4 | "The Penthouse Burglaries" "Batty Bank Mob" | September 28, 1974 | |
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| 5 | "The Voltage Villain" "The Giggler" | October 5, 1974 | |
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| 6 | "The Gumdrop Kid" "Professor Presto (The Malevolent Magician)" | October 12, 1974 | |
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| 7 | "TV or Not TV" "Stop Horsing Around" | October 19, 1974 | |
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| 8 | "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" "Great Movie Mystery" | October 26, 1974 | |
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| 9 | "The Claw" "Hong Kong Phooey vs. Hong Kong Phooey" | November 2, 1974 | |
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| 10 | "The Abominable Snowman" "Professor Crosshatch" | November 9, 1974 | |
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| 11 | "Goldfisher" "Green Thumb" | November 16, 1974 | |
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| 12 | "From Bad to Verse (Rotten Rhymer)" "Kong and the Counterfeiters" | November 23, 1974 | |
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| 13 | "The Great Choo Choo Robbery" "Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Bakery Man" | November 30, 1974 | |
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| 14 | "Mr. Tornado" "The Little Crook Who Wasn't There" | December 7, 1974 | |
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| 15 | "Dr. Disguiso" "The Incredible Mr. Shrink" | December 14, 1974 | |
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| 16 | "Comedy Cowboys" | December 21, 1974 | |
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Tin Nose, a conniving cowboy of crime, frames Hong Kong Phooey for the theft of a rare map to the Lost Dutchman Mine from a museum. It is up to Honcho, The Mystery Maverick, and the Posse Impossible to help corral Tin Nose and clear Phooey's name. | |||
Home media
editOn August 15, 2006, Warner Home Video released the complete series on 2-disc DVD in Region 1. The DVD set includes commentary on select episodes as well as a documentary of the show from its development through its legacy. The set also includes production designs, never-before-seen original artwork, new interviews, and the special feature Hong Kong Phooey—The Batty Bank Gang: The Complete Storyboard. The series is also available in the UK as a Region 2 two-disc set with the special features removed, and as two separate volumes in Region 4. The shorts "Car Thieves" and "Zoo Story" were also released on a 1970s Saturday morning cartoon compilation.
Other media
editWith a copyright of 2001, Alan Lau, in conjunction with Wildbrain.com, produced a flash animation webshow cartoon that was prominently featured on CartoonNetwork.com, and could still be found there as of the middle of June 2015. While Penry appears identical to the original incarnation, Hong Kong Phooey is a much larger, cut, and highly competent and skilled fighter—even without Spot the cat. Hong Kong Phooey faces off against and easily defeats evil anthropomorphic animals: a trio of rabbits, what appears to be a crane, and a reptilianoid (that appears to be a Komodo dragon). At the end he morphs back to Penry with a smile and sparkle in his eye.
Film
edit- On July 12, 2009, it was announced that David A. Goodman had been hired to write the screenplay for a Hong Kong Phooey film to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures.[5] Alex Zamm was slated to direct, and Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Brett Ratner, and Jay Stern were identified as producers.[6] According to the announcement, Alcon Entertainment would back the film.[7] It was announced on August 10, 2011, that Eddie Murphy would be voicing Penry/Hong Kong Phooey in the film.[7] On December 28, 2012, test footage of the film was leaked, showing a computer generated character in live action scenery.[8] As of January 2022[update] no further information has been revealed since, and the film has likely been canceled.
- Hong Kong Phooey briefly appears on the side of an arcade machine in the film Scoob! (2020).[9]
TV series
edit- Hong Kong Phooey/Penrod "Penry" Pooch appears in the TV series Laff-A-Lympics, with Scatman Crothers reprising his role. He is a member of the "Scooby Doobies", which consists of characters from Hanna-Barbera's shows from the 1970s. Hong Kong Phooey was selected as a replacement for the title character from Jeannie, as legal issues with Columbia Pictures (who owned the rights to the I Dream of Jeannie characters through their television division) prevented the Jeannie characters from appearing in the show.
- Hong Kong Phooey made a cameo in the "Agent Penny" episode of the Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment of 2 Stupid Dogs.
- To date, Hong Kong Phooey has appeared in two segments on Robot Chicken:
- "Enter the Fat One (Part 2)", in the episode "S&M Present", where he fights Joey Fatone in a karate tournament.
- "Laff-A-Munich", in the episode "Ban on the Fun", in a segment that spoofs Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the 1972 Munich massacre and the film based on the massacre.
- Hong Kong Phooey made a cameo in the Duck Dodgers episode "K-9 Quarry". He was amongst the poached Hanna-Barbera characters on the Alien Hunter's ship.
- Hong Kong Phooey/Penrod "Penry" Pooch appears in the new Wacky Races episode "Hong Kong Screwy", voiced by Phil LaMarr. The racers encounter him in China and help him fight the forces of the evil organization K.I.T.T.Y. led by Golden Paw. This appearance reveals Hong Kong Phooey's origin, and he is presented as an actual martial-arts master and competent crime-fighter.
- In the 2003 episode of Malcolm in the Middle, "Future Malcolm", Malcolm helps a misanthropic man he played chess with in the park get an interview at the drug store where his mother works. In response to the question, "Why here?", Malcolm responds, "Because this is the only guy I know that would trade a job interview for a Hong Kong Phooey lunchbox."
- Hong Kong Phooey, Sergeant Flint, Rosemary and Spot appear in the Jellystone! season 3 episode "Collection Protection".[10] In it, they are characters in an anime series. Hong Kong Phooey also appears in a later episode "Mummy Knows Best" which reveals he was a real-life movie star who starred in martial arts films in the 1980s.
Music
edit- The Bloodhound Gang song "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' on Me?" describes a person as looking "like Chewie, Baba Booey and Hong Kong Phooey all in one."
- The Moldy Peaches song "Nothing Came Out" mentions Hong Kong Phooey among other cartoons: "I want you to watch cartoons with me. He-Man, Voltron, and Hong Kong Phooey."
- The song "Sugarcane" by the Space Monkeys mentions the side-effect of drugs as being "Quicker than the human eye or Hong Kong Phooey."
- The song "Old School" by Danger Doom, features a few classic cartoon mentions. One of these is a mention of Phooey by rapper MF Doom in the line "Ooh Wee, like a Hong Kong Phooey Kick", reminiscing about his childhood.[11]
Literature
editThe children's novella Hong Kong Phooey and the Fortune Cookie Caper by Jean Lewis, illustrated by Phil Ostapczuk, was published in 1975 by Rand McNally and Company, as well as Hong Kong Phooey and the Bird Nest Snatchers (1976) and Hong Kong Phooey and the Fire Engine Mystery (1977). Hong Kong Phooey's Hidden Pictures book by Tony Tallarico was published by Tempo Books in 1976.
Art
editIn January 2015, a street art ceramic mosaic of Hong Kong Phooey sold at a Sotheby's auction for HK$2 million. The copy sold was a re-creation by the artist Invader after the original was removed from a city wall by Hong Kong authorities.[12]
Comics
editCharlton Comics published seven issues of a Hong Kong Phooey comic book during the show's run. Much of the art was produced by Paul Fung Jr.
The character appeared in 2017 in Scooby-Doo Team-Up #51-52 digital comic (released in print as #26).
In 2018, a re-imagined version of Hong Kong Phooey appeared alongside Black Lightning in the DC comic book Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-0-8230-8315-2. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 414–415. ISBN 978-1-4766-6599-3.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 286–287. ISBN 978-1-5381-0373-9.
- ^ "'Hong Kong Phooey' lands Goodman". The Hollywood Reporter. July 12, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
- ^ McNary, Dave (July 12, 2009). "'Phooey' kicks into high gear". Variety. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
- ^ a b Fleming, M. "Eddie Murphy Lends Voice To 'Hong Kong Phooey' Feature" Deadline.com (August 10, 2011).
- ^ "'Hong Kong Phooey' Movie Test Footage Revealed; 'Marvin The Martian' As Well (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. December 28, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
- ^ Asarch, Steven (May 15, 2020). "'SCOOB!' Easter Eggs: Every Hanna-Barbera Reference You Missed". Newsweek. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
- ^ "WarnerMedia Orders Extra Episodes of 'Jellystone' Ahead of Season 2". March 2, 2022.
- ^ Talib Kweli (September 12, 2008). "Danger Doom, MF Doom, Danger Mouse: Old School Rules". Epitaph Records. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
Ooh wee, like a Hong Kong Phooey Kick.
- ^ "Hong Kong Phooey takes his revenge at Sotheby's". January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
- ^ "Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special". DCcomics.com. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
External links
edit- Hong Kong Phooey at IMDb
- Hong Kong Phooey Fanriffic Zone – Featuring an interview with Kathy Gori, voice of Rosemary the telephone operator
- Hong Kong Phooey at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.
- Big Cartoon DataBase: Hong Kong Phooey
- Hong Kong Phooey – Profile on Hong Kong Phooey
- Hong Kong Phooey – Cartoon Network Department of Cartoons (Archive)
- InternationalHero Hong Kong Phooey tribute
